F.Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" Comparison and Contrasted with Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice

The reading of other texts contributes to creating meaning for other texts. An example of this is Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, this novel is more easily understood when it is compared and contrasted to other literature works, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. The aspects of the two novels that can be compared and contrasted are the plot development, characterisation, setting, narrative point of view, writer's context and themes and issues.

The plot of Pride and Prejudice is about a lower upper class woman in the 18th century who is trying to get all of her daughters married to wealthy men. Jane, Mrs Bennet's oldest daughter falls in love with the handsome and wealthy Bingley. But Bingley's sister and best friend Darcy try to pull them apart. Darcy is a very proud and arrogant character, who Elizabeth hates because of his involvement in her sisters heartbreak. Darcy falls in love with Elizabeth and she then ends up falling in love Darcy, which results in them both getting married as well as Jane and Bingley. The plot of The Great Gatsby is about a young man, Nick Carraway who moves to New York where the occupants are obsessed with wealth and status in the Jazz age of the 1920's. Nick meets Jay Gatsby, a wealthy man who is trying to win back his love Daisy. She is now unfortunately married to wealthy and arrogant Tom Buchanan. Gatsby reunites with Daisy but shortly after he is murdered by Tom's mistress's husband, who mistakes him as his late wife's killer. After Gatsby is killed Tom and Daisy flee, and Nick is left to pick up all of the pieces. The similarities between the plot developments of the two novels are that the protagonists are both looking for love, in a society that is ruled by wealth and status. The differences are that The Great Gatsby has a bittersweet ending and in Pride and Prejudice all of the conflicts are resolved and everyone ends up been happy. This is because Pride and Prejudice is a satirical piece of work and The Great Gatsby is more a dramatic novel .In The Great Gatsby the reader is able to learn how emotions can disillusion people and this idea of understanding also flows in Pride and Prejudice and is one of the main conflicts in the plot. The characters also contribute to the plot through their characterisation.

In Pride and Prejudice the dramatic method of characterisation is used. Austen has used the show me don't tell me' approach to her work. Characters are revealed through their dialogue, actions and responses. For Example Darcy's character is revealed through comments that other people make "He is a most disagreeable, horrid man, not at all worth pleasing. So high and so conceited, that there was no enduring him I quite detest the man". Only the main characters such as Darcy and Elizabeth are complex and are able to develop and change their own opinions and views. All of the other characters do not develop or change throughout the novel and they are stereotyped to fit the roles that they are given. In comparison the characters in The Great Gatsby are also simple flat characters. The only complex character is Nick who is able to make his own judgement about morals and voice his own opinions. For example this is how nick describes Tom when he first meets him two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward.' The contrast between the protagonist's and lesser characters emphasises the themes and issues that both writers are trying to portray. By understanding how F. Scott Fitzgerald uses this unique contrasting, the reader is able to readily identify how Jane Austen used the same device. F. Scott Fitzgerald makes use of the discursive method of characterisation in The Great Gatsby, which contrasts Austen's method of characterization. Nick describes the characters and he makes many comments about their personalities and actions. The setting that the characters live in...

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

...﻿English Literature
Pride and Prejudice
(By JaneAusten)
ENG102
Jones International University
Mary Louis
Dr. Rochelle Harris
Assignment 2.2: Forum Discussion
03/15/2014
Literary Scrapbook Entry on Pride and Prejudice
The Literature Connection
Mrs. Bennet, a foolish woman who talks too much and is obsessed with getting her daughters married; Lydia Bennet, the youngest of the Bennet daughter who is devoted to a life of dancing, fashions, gossips and flirting; and Mr. Williams Collins, the silly and conceited baboon who is completely stupefy by Lady Catherine in every aspect of his life that he has forgotten his own morals and duty.
The tone of the novel is light, satirical, and vivid. A scene such as Mr. Collins proposal to Elizabeth, and Lady Catherine visits to Lizzy at Longbourn, provides comic relief to the reader while at the same time revealing certain traits of the characters. For example, Lydia’s lack of common sense and responsibility is revealed when she takes pride in being the first Bennet girl to be married. Lydia does not take into consideration the circumstance of her marriage, the personality of her husband, or the prospects of their marriage for the future. Elizabeth Bennet’s ability to laugh off her misfortune and to continue to be optimistic, considering her situation, also contributes to the tone of the novel....

...Pride and Prejudice by JaneAusten
A Novel in Three Volumes by the Author of "Sense and Sensibility"
First published in 1813, Pride and Prejudice has consistently been Jane Austen's most popular novel. It portrays life in the genteel rural society of the day, and tells of the initial misunderstandings and later mutual enlightenment between Elizabeth Bennet (whose liveliness and quick wit have often attracted readers) and the haughty Darcy. The title Pride and Prejudice refers (among other things) to the ways in which Elizabeth and Darcy first view each other. The original version of the novel was written in 1796-1797 under the title First Impressions, and was probably in the form of an exchange of letters.
Jane Austen's own tongue-in-cheek opinion of her work, in a letter to her sister Cassandra immediately after its publication, was: "Upon the whole... I am well satisfied enough. The work is rather too light, and bright, and sparkling; it wants [i.e. needs] shade; it wants to be stretched out here and there with a long chapter of sense, if it could be had; if not, of solemn specious nonsense, about something unconnected with the story: an essay on writing, a critique on Walter Scott, or the history of Buonaparté, or anything that would form a contrast and bring the reader with increased delight to the playfulness and general...

...Inrony in "Pride & Prejudice" By: Julia E-mail: specifics@hotmail.com Pride and Prejudice is one of the most popular novels written by JaneAusten. This romantic novel, the story of which revolves around relationships and the difficulties of being in love, was not much of a success in Austen's own time. However, it has grown in its importance to literary critics and readerships over the last hundred years. There are many facets to the story that make reading it not only amusing but also highly interesting. The reader can learn much about the upper-class society of this age, and also gets an insight to the author's opinion about this society. Austen presents the high-society of her time from an observational point of view, ironically describing human behavior. She describes what she sees and adds her own comments to it in a very light and easy way. She never seems to be condescending or snubbing in her criticism but applies it in a playful manner. This playfulness, and her witty, ironic comments on society are probably the main reasons that make this novel still so enjoyable for readers today. Some rules and characteristics depicted in the story seem very peculiar and are hard to conceive by people of our generation. Nevertheless, the descriptions of the goings-on in that society are so lively and sparkling with irony that most people cannot help but like the novel....

...Pride and Prejudice is nowadays regarded as Jane Austen’s most enduringly popular
novel. It was first published in 1813 and is a rewritten version of her earlier work First
Impressions which had been refused for publication in 1797.1
JaneAusten worked on this novel during her most productive time, the first two
decades of the nineteenth century. The setting of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ falls also to
the time she lived and therefore delivers a detailed depiction of the existing society.
The novel tells not only the story of love between the wealthy aristocrat Mr. Darcy
and the intelligent Elizabeth Bennet, but also describes rural life in ‘Regency
England’ with its ideas of values and virtues.
Considerations of a class society are omnipresent in the novel and social position
was established in terms of families, not individuals. Generally in those times, the
family had a higher rank than today and was principally responsible for the
intellectual and moral education of children. In Pride and PrejudiceAusten portrays a
world in which society took an interest in the private virtue of its members, mainly
considering marriage. Especially the church played an important role here.
As religion was an important factor of that age, the clergy also had a significant role
in Pride and Prejudice and is...

...& Marie de La Ruffie
Email: Justine.duhalmel@wanadoo.fr & marie@laruffie.fr
Title of the Excerpt: Pride and Prejudice
Author: JaneAusten
Year of appearance: 1813 ( year of publication)
____________________________________________________________
_________________
Overview Analysis
Textual Analysis: (general)
• Historical Background: 18th century (period when JaneAusten lived: 1775- 1817)
- Women's conditions were really difficult: really important to get married to have a good standard of living, endure a lot of pressure.
• This novel is a domestic novel: a novel about home life and family that often emphasizes the personalities and attitudes of its characters. But also satirical => aim of it : criticize the people who belong to the gentry (people of gentle birth, good breeding and high social position) cf: opening sentence.
• This extract is composed of a dialogue and two authorial interventions at the beginning and at the end.
Narrative Analysis:
• One main topic: The marriage and the money which goes with. It's introduced by the dialogue between the parents: Mr. & Mrs. Bennet. The trigger event (element déclencheur) of this passage is the arrival of Mr Bingley in the area.
• These topics (marriage and money) are very important because they constitute the plot the story of Pride and...

...In the novel, Pride and Prejudice, JaneAusten asserts that a happy marriage comes not from the compliance with social conventions, but rather from the compatibility between the personalities of two individuals. The interclass marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, and the expected "intraclass" marriage of Lady Catherine's daughter stand as a foil to the true happiness in the interclass marriage of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. A lack of affection, esteem and congruity between the Bennet's, and likewise between Miss de Bourgh and Mr. Darcy, results in an unsuccessful marriage and a potentially unsuccessful marriage, respectively, while the paradigm of these qualities between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy generate a successful relationship. By illustrating that happiness and unhappiness in marriage overlook the boundaries of the class system, Austen emphasizes the individual and thus challenges the English class system.
Although the most commended marriage in the novel involves individuals from separate classes, JaneAusten does not deny that marriages across classes can turn out less than satisfactory. Mr. Bennet, who is of a higher class than Mrs. Bennet, depicts this unfortunate side of interclass marriages. However, the reasoning behind the misfortune lies not in their distinct classes, but rather in his imprudence in realizing the disagreeability of their personalities....

...Pride and Prejudice by JaneAusten is a very accomplished book because of Austen's clever and successful use of literary techniques. Literary techniques refer to the deliberate construction of language to further the story whether that be to develop character, plot, suspense or to create an enjoyable humorous novel. JaneAusten applies many literary techniques such as point of view, dialogue, letters and irony to tell the story of Pride and Prejudice.
Pride and Prejudice is told in third person limited omnipresent point of view but mainly told through Elizabeth's consciousness. This point of view is a successful narrative technique because it gives an insight into the characters, mainly Elizabeth's thoughts, and also helps to create suspense. This technique also arouses the reader's sympathy for Elizabeth because we can see that she is being honest to herself, which is essential if we are to desire her reform. "The officers of the-shire were in general a very creditable, gentlemanlike set. And the best of them were of the present party; but Mr Wickham was as far beyond them all in prison, countenance, air, and walk." (pg65) This is Elizabeth's opinion of Mr Wickham that is later found out to be completely wrong but the reader can see her sincerity.
By using this technique Austen can also control how much the reader...